“Come on. I need something special to call you.” An idea flashes in my head. “Maybe I need to lengthen your name instead of trying to shorten it. I’ll call you Jaxon.”
He bursts into laughter. “I don’t know how to tell you that’s an awful idea.”
“You just did.” I playfully shove his shoulder.
“Maybe you need to give this a little more time. Don’t rush it and pick a name you’ll regret.”
“Okay, fine, Grinchie.”
“I’m ignoring you.” He holds his finger up in a matter-of-fact way before setting down the dish towel he used to dry the pan. He closes the two-foot gap between us, kissing me slowly. “How about we find something to do while you think a little more about that nickname?”
“Like what?”
“Well, we can’t exactly go out in public, so do you want to play a game or something?”
“I have a game I used to play in college that could be fun!”
“Can just two people play it?”
“Of course.”
I dash down the hallway, opening the tiny closet at the end and rummaging around. I quickly return to the living room with a box of cards, setting it down on the table and patting the spot on the couch next to me.
“The game you used to play in college is Uno?” Jax doesn’t fight his laughter.
“Kind of. It’s a more adult version of Uno. Sit, I’ll explain it.”
When he does, I immediately snuggle into his side. He smells so good, and his warmth is enough to spark a fire.
“Okay, so we’ll play Uno like normal, but we have to do certain actions for certain cards. In college, any time someone played a skip or reverse card, the receiver had to drink. We can change that rule though.” I press my finger to my lips as I think. “How about any time you play a skip or reverse card on someone, you get to ask them a question?”
“How do you play a reverse card on someone?”
“It’s just whoever was supposed to go next but doesn’t get to go because the card was played. Since there are only two of us, the person who doesn’t play the card will tell a truth. Next rule: any time a change color card comes up, the player gets to choose a person to dare to do something. Again, in our case, any time I play one, I will giveyoua dare, and any time you do, you’ll givemea dare.”
His brows knit. “You really played this in college?”
“All the time. We did the stupidest thi—I mean, it’s fun.”
“I’m about to get into trouble, aren’t I?”
“I’d never get you into trouble. I’m a perfect angel, remember?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jax
“Okay, you definitely rigged these cards!”I reach for Lauren’s hand to get a peek. “There’s no way you have that many skips. You must have all of them.”
She pulls them close to her chest, swatting me away. “Quit complaining. You have all the reverse cards.”
“But you’ve also hadtwocolor change cards already.”
“I’m not the one who shuffled the deck. The only person you have to blame is yourself.”
“You suck.” I throw down the only skip card I had in my hand and ask her the question I’ve been building up to for a while now. “Why are you taking a chance on me?”
“What do you mean?”
